RUGBY LEAGUE CODE

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 958, 29 April 1930, Page 7

RUGBY LEAGUE CODE

COMING OF AGE IN N.Z. THIS SEASON CANTERBURY’S NEW LEAF The wonderful progress of the Rugby League game in New Zealand was referred to by members at the conclusion of the annual general meeting of the New Zealand Rugby Football League in Auckland last evening. It was noted that the report presented was the twenty-first of the series. At the present time the code had five grounds of its own in the Dominion —at Auckland, Whangarei, Canterbury, "West and Otago. That, as one member said, was the attainment of a proud thing in the historv of the game. Mr. C. A. Snedden, the president, said he hoped that another 21 years would see the code with a ground in every city and town of any importance throughout the length and breadth of the Dominion. Mr. Snedden said that he had been absolutely unbiassed when he took up League. He had watched both the Rugby games, but he was convinced that League was the game. The code had to fight hard at times. It had to fight not only prejudice, but more than that, tradition. Mr. E. Stallworthy also considered that wonderful progress had been made in a short time. There was no doubt about it that League was the game the public appreciated, he said. LONG SERVICE RECORD It was recalled that three of the present members of the League, Mr. James Carlaw, Mr. D. W. McLean and Mr. Arch. Ferguson, had been on the council ever since its foundation. A glowing report of the position in Canterbury was presented by the Canterbury delegate, Mr. L. G. Amos. “We are carrying on at Monica Park,” he said, “and hoping for a good season. We are overcoming the setbacks we have received, although grounds are still a big drawback in the city.” Of one thing I can assure you, gentlemen, and that is that the Canterbury Rugby Football League has at last gained control, absolutely, of Rugby League in the city. And that is a very big thing for Canterbury, he concluded. Expressions of confidence were expressed in the chairman, and tributes paid to his past services. The work of the secretary, Mr. W. O. Carlaw, and the treasurer, Mr. X. Culpan, were also subjects of glowing tributes.